Key Points
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Mechanisms such as differential reliance on the secretory pathway contribute to the differentiation of axons and dendrites.
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A number of transcription factors confer neurons with distinctive dendrite morphologies.
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Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule (DSCAM) has an evolutionarily conserved role in mediating self-avoidance of dendrites such that the dendrites of each neuron can spread out.
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Certain types of neurons exhibit homotypic repulsion of their dendrites to allow tiling of their dendritic fields for maximal coverage without ambiguity.
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Tiling and dendrite maintenance can be differentially regulated by the NDR (nuclear DBF2-related) kinase family members Tricornered and Warts, respectively. They in turn are regulated by the tumour suppressor Hippo.
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In Drosophila melanogaster, dendrite expansion in sensory neurons is scaled to precisely match the growing epidermis. This is controlled by the microRNA bantam in epithelial cells, which signals to adjacent neurons.
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Defects in dendrite morphogenesis might contribute to mental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism.
Abstract
Type-specific dendrite morphology is a hallmark of the neuron and has important functional implications in determining what signals a neuron receives and how these signals are integrated. During the past two decades, studies on dendritic arborization neurons in Drosophila melanogaster have started to identify mechanisms of dendrite morphogenesis that may have broad applicability to vertebrate species. Transcription factors, receptor–ligand interactions, various signalling pathways, local translational machinery, cytoskeletal elements, Golgi outposts and endosomes have been identified as contributors to the organization of dendrites of individual neurons and the placement of these dendrites in the neuronal circuitry. Further insight into these mechanisms will improve our understanding of how the nervous system functions and might help to identify the underlying causes of some neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Change history
30 April 2010
On page 317 in box 1 of the above article, we wrote that: "For example, the ubiquitin ligase anaphase-promoting complex specifically regulates axon or dendrite morphogenesis in murine cerebellar granule cells depending on whether it recruits the co-activator cadherin 1 or CDC20 to the complex152,153." This should have read: "For example, the ubiquitin ligase anaphase-promoting complex specifically regulates axon or dendrite morphogenesis in murine cerebellar granule cells depending on whether it recruits the co-activator fizzy-related protein homologue or CDC20 to the complex152,153." The authors apologize for this error.
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Acknowledgements
We are Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators and our research is supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, USA.
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DATABASES
OMIM
FURTHER INFORMATION
Glossary
- Dendritic field
-
The region occupied by the dendrites of a neuron that determines the extent of sensory or synaptic inputs to the neuron.
- Plus-end capture
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Stabilization of rapidly growing microtubules through interaction with their plus end.
- Origin recognition complex
-
A molecular switch that controls the replication initiation machinery to ensure genome duplication during cell division.
- Golgi outposts
-
Golgi cisternae that often reside in the dendrites.
- Lissencephaly
-
Human neuron migration disorders that primarily affect the development of the cerebral cortex.
- MARCM
-
(Mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker). A sophisticated genetic technique using GAL80 that allows single (wild-type or mutant) neurons to be labelled.
- Instar
-
A developmental stage of the larva
- Trans-heterozygous
-
Describes an animal that harbours one mutant allele of gene A and one mutant allele of gene B.
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Jan, YN., Jan, L. Branching out: mechanisms of dendritic arborization. Nat Rev Neurosci 11, 316–328 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2836
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2836
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